Ecstatic Spaniards greet Euro 2024 winners, team praised for fostering unity

MADRID – Waving flags and dressed in Spain’s red and yellow, tens of thousands of people jubilantly greeted the country’s triumphant Euro 2024 football team on July 15 during a parade in Madrid.

“Champions, champions!” fans shouted out to the players and coach, who celebrated the win in an open-top double-decker bus, with the trophy placed on the front and the message “It’s only the beginning” emblazoned.

Spain beat England 2-1 in the July 14 final in Berlin, Germany.

Spanish authorities praised the players’ victory and style of play, while some fans said they were fostering unity in a country with a history of territorial tensions and political polarisation.

“We are a great country. In days like today, it’s important to remember that this flag represents all of us,” a young fan named Borja told national broadcaster TVE.

He praised Spain’s 17-year-old rising star Lamine Yamal, who is black, with his father hailing from Morocco while his mother was born in Equatorial Guinea.

“We are seeing the (ongoing) problems with racism. Lamine Yamal will define an era because people in Spain are of all colours,” Borja added.

Standing on balconies and crowded sidewalks, excited fans, many of them children and some who had travelled from distant parts of Spain, waved at the players who were wearing white T-shirts reading “Kings of Europe” accompanied by a big No. 4 to mark the team’s fourth continental title.

“I want to thank you for your efforts and for the way you played, with the joy you do it,” Spain’s King Felipe VI told the team in a ceremony at his palace, accompanied by Queen Letizia and his two daughters dressed in national jerseys.

“A joy like this one was good for us.”

There was another celebration in the Spanish capital as French superstar Kylian Mbappe was officially presented as a Real Madrid player to a packed-out Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on July 16.

Although the tickets are free, they were snapped up rapidly, with some fans reportedly trying to resell them to take advantage of the hype surrounding the arrival of the world’s best forward.

Meanwhile, over in England, Lionesses captain Leah Williamson said England fans need to remember that the country has achieved incredible results in recent years with four runs to the final of major tournaments between the men and women.

The Euro 2024 loss to Spain follows a defeat by Italy on penalties in the final of the last edition in 2021.

On July 17, England, the holders of the women’s Euro title, face Sweden away. Victory will secure England a berth at Euro 2025.

“Yeah, devastated for (the men), especially knowing some of them personally as well,” said Williamson.

“What (men’s manager) Gareth (Southgate) and his team have done over the last three, four years, reaching (two successive Euro) finals and bringing that dream closer to reality, we are very lucky as fans of England, men’s and women’s, to be in the position that we’re in.

“They didn’t get over the line to a fantastic Spanish team, I know they’ll be devastated about it, it will take a while for them to get over it. But us, as a country, we’ve been blessed with incredible tournaments. And when those wins come, which I do believe they will, then they’ll be even sweeter.”

The women beat Germany to win Euro 2022 and then finished runners-up to Spain at the 2023 World Cup.

England women’s manager Sarina Wiegman knows the heartache of coming close to victory after their World Cup final loss and was asked what the next few days and weeks might be like for Southgate, who has not yet decided on his future with the team.

“Takes about three weeks, it took me three weeks to get over it,” she said matter-of-factly.

“It’s very hard... when you have given your everything, then you hope you win and when you don’t, you are really disappointed.

“But then you start thinking: Okay, did we get everything out of ourselves? Did we do everything that we could that was in our control? And then you have to accept it. It’s easier to accept a win than to accept a loss, but yeah, for me, that took a while.” REUTERS, AFP